Good presentation, thank you. A lot of App Notes are available to help with interface issues such as cabling, board layout, PWB design, bypassing and such like. CMRR also helps a lot. Device vendors for both sensors and interface IC's have done good work in paving the way. Realize these are reference designs, mileage may vary ...

None of the sensors I discussed today had the option of 4-20 mA output. From what I know, for a 4-20mA signal conditioner, you have choices from Analog Devices, TI, Melexis and probably a few more to get the 4-20 ma capability (and perhaps then you get a digital output as well.)

The interface chips outlined in today's presentation use either I2C or SPI interfaces to the microcontroller. Other than speed differences and the number of pins required, what other considerations drive the chip vendors to select one interface over the other?

While there could be difference that would make one preferred over the other, I think the real answer is suppliers want to satisfy designers with an approach they are most familiar with. If you offer both, you cover a lot of bases.

Thanks, very interesting presentation. Can you mention where these sensors are available from?

Since today's session strictly focused on the sensor singal conditioning no specifc sensors were discussed. Outside of contacting the IC manufacturers, your favorite distributor might be a good palce to start for the ICs.

If you want an idea of sensor manufacturers for various sensing technologies, TI's WEBENCH suggest manufacturers and products once you have selected, temperature, pressure, etc.

I'm curious about the temp. pressure sensor with the MAC90100. Is the sensor also campable of simultaniously sensing both variables?

The pressure sensor is external the temperature sensing is internal and the device must be switched between the two. For the temperature to apply to more than the IC, it must be in close proximity to the sensor.

Randy: You have shown "signal conditioning" in the analog part of the game. How about "fixing things in post", i.e. in the MCU/DSP?

I should have mentioned that with the capability of MCUs and DSP and DSC these are frequently used and the only thing you need from the analog part is the amplification. The internal ADC and software can allow very precises sensor calibrations expecially if they are each tested to detemrmne the specific calibration variables.

@jrjohns: My experience boils down to I2X being mre capable (multi-point bus, any node can be master. slave, or both, etc.) but is more expensive in both dies are and time to implement. Also should "register" an I2C to be real I2C.

The interface chips outlined in today's presentation use either I2C or SPI interfaces to the microcontroller. Other than speed differences and the number of pins required, what other considerations drive the chip vendors to select one interface over the other?

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A few weeks ago, Ford Motor Co. quietly announced that it was rolling out a new wrinkle to the powerful safety feature called stability control, adding even more lifesaving potential to a technology that has already been very successful.

It won't be too much longer and hardware design, as we used to know it, will be remembered alongside the slide rule and the Karnaugh map. You will need to move beyond those familiar bits and bytes into the new world of software centric design.

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